Page 56 of Infernal Bonds

There were too many secrets for me to keep up with.

I looked at myself in the mirror and took a deep breath.

Rinlora had offered to help me get ready for the ball, so while the guys proceeded to the council’s chambers for a debriefing with Cornaith, I joined her in one of the palace’s many bedrooms.

“You look beautiful,” she said, snapping the clasp on her gold bracelet.

She told me she attended the ball every year hoping to find her Nyrith. Her siblings weren’t interested. Ranthus focused too much on his duties to Cornaith, while Roandra fixated too much on Cyn.

Rinlora confessed Roandra hated Zeke, suspecting he had a crush on Cyn—which I neither confirmed nor denied. She also told me Roandra had thrown herself at Cyn multiple times, and he’d always refused her. He apparently cut his blood donors off whenever they became too attached, and she’d shown her hand before he ever touched her, so she’d never been intimate with him.

I wanted to tell Rinlora that it wasn’t any of my concern, but I was supposed to be playing the part of the willing Nyrith.

“Young Master Cyriac said he’d wait for you at the entrance to the ballroom.”

I took the sapphire teardrop earrings she offered me.

I’d gotten used to her calling Ash “Young Master,” but I didn’t think he liked it. He’d said, with his parents gone, the title didn’t suit him—if it ever did.

Once my earrings were in place, I took one last look in the mirror.

Rinlora had styled my hair in an elaborate updo with tiny aquamarine and sapphire-tipped pins. Curled tendrils framed my face and fell from the updo down my bare back and over my collarbone.

“I love this necklace on you,” Rinlora said.

I touched the pear-shaped sapphire resting above my cleavage. “It’s beautiful.”

It’d been too long since I’d worn a necklace. Before Cyn stole mine, I’d worn one every day since my parents died.

“Cornaith wants to show you off as Young Master Kilnejar’s Nyrith.”

I’d wondered about the choice of gemstones. While she’d included the aquamarines in my hair to add contrast, the jewelry and shoes the council had sent over made a statement.

Sapphire represented Ezra’s family.

Cornaith wanted me dressed as Ezra’s possession.

How did the rest of the council feel about only Ezra’s claim being acknowledged?

My nose wrinkled at the phrasing.

I refused to be a prop for display and ownership. But I needed to play Cornaith’s game for my safety.

“At least he let me choose my dress.”

“You chose the blue?”

The dress I’d chosen came from a curated selection of blue, champagne, and white dresses the store clerk had shown me. Considering the options matched the sapphire jewelry, Cornaith probably orchestrated the whole thing.

“The other options didn’t work for me.”

I’d feel naked and vulnerable in champagne, even with my tan, and white would make me feel like a bride—which felt too on the nose since this was my first public appearance as the guys’ Nyrith. Blue made the most sense. Besides, the dark sapphire dress I’d chosen looked gorgeous and matched my seascape tattoo.

The strapless corset with a sweetheart neckline hugged me tight enough to make me feel held together, while the shimmering beadwork caught the light every time I moved. Satin draped across my hips before opening into a slit high enough to show off my thigh tattoo whenever I walked. It was sexy without making me feel too exposed—unlike some of the other blue dresses with necklines plunging to my navel.

My options were to look like a bride, look naked, or look sexy. I chose sexy.

Kavina assured me that many of the women at the Divine Fortune Ball wore vibrant colors, so choosing something less saturated would work against my desire to blend in.